The Miami Dolphins took a big risk when they passed on Brady Quinn with the ninth pick of the first round in the NFL Draft. Cam Cameron, the coach, got a heated and hostile response from fans when he tried to discuss the reasons why he and the team chose Ted Ginn Jr. over the golden boy from the Golden Dome. One of those reasons was that they picked up BYU's John Beck in the second round, which gave them a quarterback to build around. Or so the argument went. Beck participated in his first minicamp with the team this weekend and it didn't go too swimmingly.
Beck let the 25-second clock expire twice during Friday morning's session and struggled Saturday afternoon, fumbling a snap and having a pass batted down at the line of scrimmage.
Obviously it's early in Beck's career, too early to call him a bust even, but Cameron's not going to catch any breaks on that front. With Daunte Culpepper sidelined by a knee injury and a long rumored trade for Trent Green still unconsumated Beck will have plenty of chances to win himself playing time in the upcoming season. He'll need to start working on his excuse-making as well, though. He blamed the switch from Utah to Miami for some of his struggles, particularly the humidity.
"My first couple snaps on the first day were a little off because my hands were kind of sticking to the ball."
Poor performances and inane excuses aren't going to win over a fanbase that's already addled by the direction their team has moved in over the last year. Beck shouldn't have to shoulder such a burden as a second-round pick but he'll always share poster boy status with Ginn should Quinn prove to be a great NFL QB.
Comments